Tritrichomonas Diarrhea in Cats

Tritrichomonas foetus causes chronic large bowel diarrhea in cats associated with blood or mucus, flatulence, tenesmus, vomiting, weight loss, and anal irritation. Most reports in the literature are since 1996. The objective of this was to estimate the prevalence of T. foetus in pet cats across the United States. Fecal samples from 173 cats across the U.S. were submitted by veterinarians. Thirty-two pedigreed cats were represented. In this study population, 10% of the cats were positive for T. foetus. All positive cats had chronic large bowel diarrhea. There was no correlation between breed or gender and infection with T. foetus. Other enteric pathogens, such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium, were present in nine of the 17 positive cats. The results of this study suggest that trichomoniasis is a disease of younger male and female cats of all breeds. [SL]>> PubMed Abstract